The device relates to a shift knob having a leather made covering body over its outer surfaces.
A conventional shift knob of an automobile automatic transmission system is formed by applying a covering body made of leather over the outer surfaces of a resin-formed body. Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the outer surfaces of a resin-made body 1 are covered with a plurality of leather pieces 2a, and these leather pieces 2a are stitched (the seams are indicated by 2b) to form a covering body 2. At insertion holes 5, 6, into which a detent button 3 and an overdrive switch 4 are inserted, respectively, the leather pieces 2a are folded back into the respective insertion holes 5, 6, and bezels 7, 8 are attached so as to be interposed between the leather piece and the button 3 and between the leather piece and the switch 4, respectively. Thus, the leather pieces 2a will be tightly fitted and not be loosened out.
The above construction addresses the following problems. The covering body 2 must be prepared by stitching the leather pieces 2a while the outer surfaces of the resin-made body 1 are covered with the pieces, and this entails a cumbersome and time-consuming stitching operation. Also, the bezels 7, 8 must be inserted into the insertion holes 5, 6, which further complicates the overall fabrication process. Further, since the leather pieces 2a must be stitched while covering the resin-formed body 1, the technique of stitching them is so limited allowing little design choice. Furthermore, the bezels 7, 8 are required at the portions into which the detent button 3 and the overdrive switch 4 are inserted to prevent the loosening of the leather pieces 2a, and this increases the number of parts involved in the fabrication.